Digitalized analyses of intraoperative acetabular component position using image-matching technique in total hip arthroplasty

Periacetabular Osteotomy Improves Hip Microinstability Between Supine and Standing Radiographs in Symptomatic Hip Dysplasia

Background

Whether periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) improves hip microinstability in patients with symptomatic hip dysplasia remains poorly understood.

Purpose

To assess the femoral head translation with static postural change, considered a potential indicator of hip microinstability, comparing dysplastic hips before and after PAO with normal hips.

Study Design

Descriptive laboratory study.

Methods

A total of 26 patients (30 hips) with hip dysplasia underwent PAO, and 18 healthy individuals (18 hips) were eligible. Using a 3-dimensional-to-2-dimensional registration technique, femoral head translation before and after PAO was quantified as the displacement of the center of the femoral head relative to the center of the acetabulum between supine and standing positions. Morphological factors on supine anteroposterior pelvic radiographs before and after PAO correlated with the femoral head translation, particularly lateral translation, were examined.

Results

Femoral head translation decreased after PAO (1.5 ± 0.4 mm vs 1.0 ± 0.4 mm; P < .001) but remained larger than in controls (1.0 ± 0.4 mm vs 0.7 ± 0.3 mm; P = .01). The more severe the hip dysplasia before PAO was, the greater the femoral head translation. However, the femoral head translation improved after PAO with sufficient acetabular correction. The acetabular roof obliquity (ARO) showed the strongest correlation with lateral translation of the femoral head from the supine to standing position before PAO. In contrast, no correlation was found after PAO.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that the severity of hip dysplasia influences hip microinstability, that PAO mitigates hip microinstability with adequate acetabular correction, and that PAO does not normalize hip stability because of residual joint incongruity. In patients with a larger ARO, the femoral head has more lateral translation in the standing position. Therefore, weightbearing postural radiographs are crucial for understanding hip biomechanics in hip dysplasia and refining surgical corrections during PAO.

Clinical Relevance

PAO can make the hip more stable in hip dysplasia, but not as stable as the normal hip. In hip dysplasia, pre-PAO standing radiographs should be evaluated due to their accurately representing the femoral head position relative to the acetabulum.

Evaluation of Leg Length Difference on Perioperative Radiographs of Total Hip Arthroplasty Considering Lower Limb Malposition

BACKGROUND

During total hip arthroplasty (THA) in lateral decubitus, perioperative radiography allows the surgeon a simple evaluation of the leg length difference (LLD) by measuring the proximal femoral length. However, the effect of femoral malpositioning on proximal femoral length measurements during the evaluation of perioperative radiographs is not adequately understood. We aimed to (1) investigate the effects of malposition on proximal femoral length using three-dimensional computer simulations and (2) verify whether a simple correction formula can improve the accuracy of LLD evaluation on perioperative radiographs.

METHODS

We analyzed 86 patients who underwent THA. Digitally reconstructed radiography (DRR) images were reconstructed in various limb positions (femoral abduction, adduction, and flexion), and proximal femoral length measurements in those malpositions were simulated. Additional morphological measurements of the femoral neck torsion angle in the sagittal plane were performed to elucidate the simulation findings. The malposition angle of abduction-adduction was evaluated with actual perioperative radiographs, and trigonometric correction was attempted.

RESULTS

The leg length measurement decreased as the femoral DRR image shifted from neutral to abduction and adduction, demonstrating approximately 1 mm per 10° of abduction or adduction. The leg length measurement increased as the femoral image shifted from neutral to 10° and 20° of flexion, demonstrating approximately 3 mm per 10° of flexion. With a peak at 20° of flexion, the proximal femoral length measurement decreased in the DRR images at 30°, 40°, 50° and 60° of flexion. The femoral neck torsion angle was 21.1 ± 5.6° on the operative side. The effect of coronal malposition on leg length discrepancy was so small that the difference following trigonometric correction was not statistically significant (p=0.108).

CONCLUSION

In the present simulation, coronal malposition had a small effect on LLD evaluation. As the femoral neck has a torsion of approximately 20°, the proximal femoral length is projected the longest when the femur is flexed 20°. With careful positioning of the limb in the coronal plane, the use of a correction formula for LLD evaluation would not be necessary. Surgeons should ensure that both lower limbs are in the same position in the sagittal plane during THA in lateral decubitus.

Component rotational mismatch in the standing position is a potential risk factor for unfavourable functional outcomes after total knee arthroplasty

Purpose

This study assessed rotational mismatch between components after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in the supine and standing positions and aimed to investigate the effect of rotational mismatch in the standing position on postoperative patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Methods

Seventy-one patients (71 knees) who underwent TKA for medial knee osteoarthritis were used to investigate rotational mismatches between components. Rotational mismatches between components were examined on postoperative standing whole-leg and supine knee radiographs using a three-dimensional-to-two-dimensional model image registration technique, and the angles between the reference axes of the components were measured. Component alignment was evaluated using postoperative computed tomography images, and a questionnaire (2011 version of the Knee Society Score: [KSS 2011]) was mailed to investigate postoperative PROMs.

Results

In the entire cohort, rotational mismatches in the supine and standing positions were similar (p = 0.9315). In 15% of patients, the mismatch was large (>5°) in the supine position but small (<5°) in the standing position (overestimated group). However, in 23% of patients, the mismatch was small (<5°) in the supine position and large (>5°) in the standing position (underestimated group). The underestimated group had severe preoperative varus deformity, resulting in external rotation of both femoral and tibial components. Rotational mismatch in the standing position (p = 0.0032) was a significant risk factor for unfavourable PROMs. Patients with a mismatch in the standing position had significantly lower scores than those without a mismatch (p = 0.0215), exceeding the minimal clinically important difference values.

Conclusions

The underestimated group is clinically important because the surgical procedure and intraoperative assessment of component placement are performed in the supine position. In cases of severe preoperative varus deformity, care should be taken not to place the component in malrotation to avoid rotational mismatch in the standing position.

Level of Evidence

Ⅳ, Case series.

Anterior superior iliac spine is not always reliable as a pelvic reference axis. -3D study of pelvic axis

BACKGROUND

This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of the axis connecting both anterior superior iliac spines (ASIS axis) as the absolute pelvic axis. No study has ever verified the accuracy of ASIS axis particularly on the AP pelvic radiograph, which cannot be specified on it.

METHODS

Sixty patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty and fifty patients with femoral neck fracture were recruited as subjects without hip deformities and their CT scan data were collected. We defined the line through both center of femoral heads as absolute reference axis of pelvis three-dimensionally. On the coronal plane, the errors between the femoral head axis and the axes through six pelvic landmarks in total, including ASIS were analyzed. On the axial plane, the errors of the lines through four landmarks were analyzed in the same way. Finally, on the coronal images, the mediolateral diameter of the obturator foramen and the mediolateral distance between the midline of the sacrum and the pelvic cavity were measured to evaluate bilateral symmetry of the pelvis.

RESULTS

The errors tended to be smaller as the axes were closer to the femoral head axis (axes connecting bilateral superior aspects of the acetabulum and the teardrops) and the ASIS axis errors were moderate. The obturator foramen based on the ASIS axis was more asymmetrical than the femoral head axis.

CONCLUSION

Adjusting the pelvic tilt and rotation, surgeons should not always rely on the ASIS and refer to appropriate, close to the hip joint references in each case.

Integrating model explanations and hybrid priors into deep stacked networks for the "safe zone" prediction of acetabular cup

BACKGROUND

Existing state-of-the-art "safe zone" prediction methods are statistics-based methods, image-matching techniques, and machine learning methods. Yet, those methods bring a tension between accuracy and interpretability.

PURPOSE

To explore the model explanations and estimator consensus for "safe zone" prediction.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We collected the pelvic datasets from Orthopaedic Hospital, and a novel acetabular cup detection method is proposed for automatic ROI segmentation. Hybrid priors comprising both specific priors from data and general priors from experts are constructed. Specifically, specific priors are constructed based on the fine-tuned ResNet-101 convolutional neural networks (CNN) model, and general priors are constructed based on expert knowledge. Our method considers the model explanations and dynamic consensus through appending a SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) module and a dynamic estimator stacking.

RESULTS

The proposed method achieves an accuracy of 99.40% and an area under the curve of 0.9998. Experimental results show that our model achieves superior results to the state-of-the-art conventional ensemble classifiers and deep CNN models.

CONCLUSION

This new screening model provides a new option for the "safe zone" prediction of acetabular cup.

Treatment patterns and clinical and economic burden of hip dislocation following primary total hip arthroplasty in England

Aims

The aim of this study was to estimate the clinical and economic burden of dislocation following primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) in England.

Methods

This retrospective evaluation used data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink database. Patients were eligible if they underwent a primary THA (index date) and had medical records available 90 days pre-index and 180 days post-index. Bilateral THAs were excluded. Healthcare costs and resource use were evaluated over two years. Changes (pre- vs post-THA) in generic quality of life (QoL) and joint-specific disability were evaluated. Propensity score matching controlled for baseline differences between patients with and without THA dislocation.

Results

Among 13,044 patients (mean age 69.2 years (SD 11.4), 60.9% female), 191 (1.5%) had THA dislocation. Two-year median direct medical costs were £15,333 (interquartile range (IQR) 14,437 to 16,156) higher for patients with THA dislocation. Patients underwent revision surgery after a mean of 1.5 dislocations (1 to 5). Two-year costs increased to £54,088 (IQR 34,126 to 59,117) for patients with multiple closed reductions and a revision procedure. On average, patients with dislocation had greater healthcare resource use and less improvement in EuroQol five-dimension index (mean 0.24 (SD 0.35) vs 0.44 (SD 0.35); p < 0.001) and visual analogue scale (0.95 vs 8.85; p = 0.038) scores, and Oxford Hip Scores (12.93 vs 21.19; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The cost, resource use, and QoL burden of THA dislocation in England are substantial. Further research is required to understand optimal timing of revision after dislocation, with regard to cost-effectiveness and impact on QoL.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2022;104-B(7):811–819.

How does transtrochanteric anterior rotational osteotomy change the dynamic three-dimensional intact ratio in hips with osteonecrosis of the femoral head?

BACKGROUND

The intact ratio (the ratio of the intact area of the femoral head) on a two-dimensional anteroposterior radiograph is associated with the prognosis of hips with osteonecrosis of the femoral head after transtrochanteric anterior rotational osteotomy. However, changes of the three-dimensional intact ratio during dynamic weight-bearing activity and correlation of the three-dimensional intact ratio with clinical scores are still unknown.

METHODS

Kinematics of eight hips with osteonecrosis of the femoral head that underwent anterior rotational osteotomy were analyzed using image-matching techniques during chair-rising and squatting preoperatively and postoperatively. Two types of dynamic three-dimensional intact ratios were examined, including the lunate covered area (IR_LC) and in vivo peak contact force vector intersected area (IR_FV). The static three-dimensional intact ratio in each octant of the femoral head was also examined.

FINDINGS

The mean Harris hip score significantly improved from 67 preoperatively to 90 postoperatively. During chair-rising rising/squatting, the mean IR_LC and IR_FV significantly increased from 42%/41% and 7%/4% preoperatively, to 66%/65% and 79%/77% postoperatively, respectively. IR_LC significantly changed during the motion whereas substantial postoperative IR_FV was maintained throughout the motion. Additionally, Harris hip score and the static three-dimensional intact ratio in the superolateral regions had significant positive correlations with both IR_LC and IR_FV.

INTERPRETATION

Hip kinematics affected IR_LC but not IR_FV, which suggests that substantial intact bone occupies the region in which peak contact forces are applied during deep hip flexion. Additionally, improving intact ratio in the superolateral region led to improvements in both IR_LC and IR_FV with favorable clinical scores.